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record number of Google searches for information about the virus

Actor Charlie Sheen’s announcement last year that he is HIV-positive led to a record number of Google searches for information about the virus that causes AIDS in the United States, researchers said Monday.

“Just as with celebrities Rock Hudson’s and Magic Johnson’s disclosures of their HIV-positive status, Sheen’s disclosure may be similarly reinvigorating awareness and prevention of HIV,” said the report in the Journal of the American Medical Associ
ation (JAMA) Internal Medicine.

Since Sheen’s announcement came only a few months ago — he revealed his status on NBC’s “Today” show on November 17 — it is too early to say whether the hunt for information it inspired will translate into a drop in HIV diagnoses.